Car-door safety-signal



A. K. WINTER.

CAR DOOR SAFETY SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 1.1917.

1,876,849. Patented y 3,1921.

. I 3 L 4% f4 Inventor:

Anna KWin Z2921.

UNITED ,STATES ANNA. K. wnvrnajor BROOKLYN, New YORK- CAR-DOOR SAFETY-SIGNAL.

Application filed October 1, 1917. Serial No. 194,217. I

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, ANNA K. .WINTER, a citizen of'the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Safety-Signals, of which the following 'is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a warning device for passengers approaching the doorway of a car that will indicate that the door is closing and that it is clangerous for them to attempt to enter the partly closed doorway.

A further object is to provide such an arrangement in which a visible signal such as a red light, or a large lighted plate of red glass, is arranged on the door, that will be conspicuous to the approaching passenger as soon as the door starts to close.

A further object of the invention is to provide an audible signal that will sound as soon as the door begins to' close.

In the accompanying drawing showing embodiments of my invention Figure 1 shows the middle portion of a car with the door in the open position; and Fig. 2 is a similar view with the door partly closed.

As set forth, the car 3 has the doorway 4 closed by a sliding door 5. Frequently such doors in the middle of a car are controlled by the guard who stands at one end of the car, and therefore he cannot well observe the passengers about to enter the car, or whether a passenger is partly within the doorway, when he is about to cause the closing of the door. It frequently happens that passengers are struck or caught by the closing door, and injured thereby, or else are carried along with the car, with disastrous results. These doors do not usually open quite the full distance, and a passenger in haste to enter the car when the door is about to close, will not stop to observe whether the door is in the act of closing. T o warn such passengers I provide a signal device on the car that will be inoperative when the door is fully open, but which will be caused to operate as soon as the door starts to close. This signal may also be rendered inoperative as soon as the door is fully closed.

As shown, I provide a visual signal device that will be illuminated and exposed to the approaching passenger as soon as the door starts to close. One formof suchdevice is shown as having a glass plate 6-1n the [door that isabnormally colored, such asa red PATENT OFFICE. v

Specification of Letters Patentf Patented May 3, 1921'.

pane of glass. This is arranged adjacent the front edge 7 ofthe door.

obscured bythe wall portion 8 of the car adjacent the doorway, as shown in Fig.,1. As soon asthe door starts to .elose this red glass willbe exposed .to approaching pas-.

sengers, and where the interior of the-car is lighted as in a subway, the lights inside of the car will illuminate this glass plate, that When the door is fully open this red glass 6 will be.

red glass on the door so that the public will x be informed, and will become accustomed to look for the danger signal and be warnedthat the door is closing.

Doors of this character are very frequently provided with one or more panes of glass in the upper portion, and it is very simple and inexpensive to install this invention by the mere act of substituting the red pane of glass for the ordinary pane of glass now in use; or else a red covering matter could be applied to the present glass in the door.

An audible signal may also be provided that is controlled by the closing of the door. An electric hell 9 may be arranged outside of the car, in the circuit of which bell is a brush 1() on the car arranged to engage a contact plate 12 on the door, this plate also engaging a second brushv 13 adjacent the door. The plate serves to connect these brushes except when the door is fully open,

red glass will be entirely concealed by the side of the car; and as soon as the door begins to close a small portion of the red glass will be exposed, that will be illumi-' nated by the interior lights, The closing movement of the door will render this red glass increasingly conspicuous as it is exposed beyond the car side. This will form a signal device that will make a strong impression on a passenger who may have the intention of entering through the doorway that is being closed, and warn him of the danger of being struck by the door or caught in'the doorway. This is different from a mere signal that might be carried by the door without danger in its effect or appearance. One of the strong features of this invention is the simplicity and the economy of its construction or application. Practically no new parts are required, and the usual glass in the door is simply substituted by a red glass or the, usual glass may be treated to, render it of a conspicuous color.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is In a car, the combination with the wall having a doorway and a door slidable therein, of a large window opening in the door containing a pane of glass that is abnormally conspicuously colored, such as red, the car wall adjacent the doorway being arranged whereby when the door is fully open said window glass will be concealed to out-- side passengers approaching the doorway,"

and as the door starts to close the said glass will be at once exposed to outside passengers and illuminated by the normal light inside the car will render the door pane a conspicuous moving signal that the door is closing vand warn against entrance into the doorway.

ANN A K. WINTER. 

